Thrift store finds and crafty things from the butt-end of Europe

Tag Archives: stamping

I bought some new crafty supplies last month, including a cute Gorjuss-stamp which was on sale. I like sales. They are best. Last night I got bitten by a crafty bug and made this Halloween-card. Who knows, I might even send it to someone😉

The techniques I used were pretty basic. Distressing, inking….The little witch hat is pieced and is part of a Stampendous Halloween-stamp. For colouring I used ProMarkers as per usual. The doodle stitching was done with .5 Zig Millenium-pen.

Remember the card, Fly The World, I made few weeks ago? Of course you do. Being my huge fan and everything. Well, card wasn’t all I gave, I made a present too! With my freakishly tiny, chubby hands.

I love that paper. It’s vintage shelf paper (is that a thing in English?), I found couple of years ago full roll of. FULL ROLL! A fantastic find, people. Fantastic.

I had better picture of the actual gift but seems that I deleted it by accident. My cousin moved back in with her parents to save money for her studies and now she’s looking for an apartment. I made two pillowcases for her from one of my most prized vintage sheeting. Only reason I was able to sacrifice it, is the fact I have three of them. Anyhoo, Maija really digged the colour so I’m happy too.

THEN another gift I made…Last January, a finnish foodie blogger Hellapoliisi asked on Twitter if someone would like to get some free food from her latest book photoshoot. You know me. I like free stuff and scored two cheesecakes and few other things for my sister’s birthday. Now, couple of weeks ago I finally managed to return the dishes to her and also thank her personally, so I decided to make something for her too…

First the wrapper…Again vintage shelf paper. I chose the pink one because Hellapoliisi is all about the pink. You should see her kitchen/studio. It’s ah-MAZING!

First the detail…I made this double, semi-appliqued heart pocket using cotton poplin. The main fabric is japanese and I bought both from Eurokangas.

It’s an apron and that’s Hellapoliisi! I know a bonafide famous person! And more importantly an incredible cook and a successful business owner. Who is super nice too! Maybe I should take few lessons from her😀

Funny story…I managed to drag my butt there because she advertised on Twitter that there will be some crafty supplies for sale. Did someone say crafty supplies and sale in the same sentence? Me be there. Anyhoo, when I got there, turns out the person selling those craft supplies was Maiju, THE Finnish authority on cardmaking. She is pushing blogging and crafting on the back burner and is going to focus more on teaching, so she was getting rid of bunch of her supplies, keeping only her favourites. I bought 3 of her stamps and then she kindly gave me one extra as a gift!

So basically I met two celebs at once. I’m amazed I didn’t geek it out that much. EVERYONE who does paper crafts in Finland knows Maiju.

-Thrifty Finn-

P.S. Hellapoliisi was so nice that she made a fresh smoothie! It was delicious.

Last November I went to Kädentaitomessut (Arts & Crafts Fair) in Helsinki. I took pictures but never got around posting about it. Yeaaaaah. That’s how I apparently roll. Well, lucky for me, the fair is twice a year and it’s coming up again in couple of weeks time. So isn’t it really better to post about the fair now? BEFORE the fair is on? As to give information what’s it about?

At least that’s how I reason it to myself.

Anyhoo. The fair is held in huge (in Finnish huge, not American huge) convention center. There are several wings of which one is for crafts and (this time) the other fairs held at the same time are: Child, Model Expo, Outlet Expo and Local&Organic Food Fair. I’m particularly excited about the last one because, hey, tastings. Mmmm. Food samples…

I like that there are both small independent crafters and manufacturers AND shops that sell supplies. Pictured above are bamboo dish rags by Susannan Työhuone (Susanna’s Workroom). I didn’t buy one but I kind of wish that I did. I tried to keep a budget so I bought only necessary supplies like washi tape, ProMarkers, stamps…You know. The basic stuff. Continue reading →

Woohoo! It’s time for the March Giveaway, naturally in April. Why am I giving stuff away every month this year? No other reason that I like winning free stuff myself and I take part of every raffle that I find so this is my way of paying back. Anyhoo, do you want to know what’s up for grabs?

A Finnish craft/home decor chain has had bunch of their craft goodies on -70% discount. By the time I got there, the shelves were pretty picked but I got something that you might like. First is a wood mounted stamp by Stampendous, then a pack of 4 Memento felt tips and last but not least, some lovely, yellow brads. Since these were on sale, they fill the only requirement I have for the prize, it has to be something thrifty/thrifted.

Now the important part. How to enter:

Leave a comment on this giveaway post AND your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win. The e-mail won’t be visible to anyone else but me.

For a second chance to win, blog about this giveaway with a link back here. There’s no need to use picture but if you do, the first one is the one you should use.

Follow me on Facebook and tell me here that you did and if you already are a follower, remind me that you are.

Follow me on Pinterest and tell me here that you did and if you already are a follower, remind me that you are.

That is four chances to win, my friends! The giveaway closes on 30th of April at 23.59 Helsinki time and is open globally. I will contact the winner personally and announce it here too. The winner has 7 days to respond to my e-mail before I draw a new name.

Disclaimer: This prize was bought by me, by my own money. The companies mentioned here have no idea who I am. They might come to check out my site when they see in their stats that someone has linked to their sites but that’s about it.

In January I applied for a position as a DT for Paper Crafting Journey. I didn’t get it but Wendy (founder) suggested I could be a guest designer. Naturally I said yes. The sponsor to this challenge is Sassy Studio Designs and I chose the image Paris. For some weird reason ;D

Anyhoo the theme for this week is bingo. My card is following the top line. Except I forgot the bling.

*hungs her head in shame*

And at one point making the card I had bling on it but in the end decided to change it into a washi tape banner! Oh well…Here’s my card:

I had a little (?) colouring mishap with the hair. I had changed the ProMarker fine tip extension from a red marker to the cinnamon and didn’t do the “doodle cleaning” thing to erase the red leftovers. Now there’s a red patch in the hair! Another mistake is that I used my brush tip copic to colour in the shoes and stripes which resulted in some interesting effects. Stupid thing to do when I HAVE a matching ProMarker. I was just too lazy to change markers after I finished the beret…

Some guest designer I am. I think I have to take this as a learning lesson. If you are interested in this week’s challenge click HERE. You have a chance to win 4 digi images from Sassy Studio Designs. I’m also entering this card in following challenges: